Is It Permissible to Shorten the Life of a Patient

Who Is Suffering With no Hope of a Cure?

A man is dying, the victim of cruel suffering. His  state is known to be hopeless. Would it be permissible to save him a few moments of anguish by hastening his end?

Who would give you the right to foresee God’s  designs? Could he not lead certain persons to the edge of the grave and then bring them back in order to make them examine themselves and lead them to other thoughts? No matter how extreme the condition of a dying person, no one can say with certainty that his or her final hour has arrived. Has science never been wrong in its predictions?

I know very well that  there are cases, which with good reason may be considered as desperate; however, even if there is no basis for hope of a definite return to life and health, are there not countless examples in which at the moment of taking their final breath, patients rouse themselves and recover their faculties for a few moments? Well then, this time of grace that has been granted them may be of great importance to them because you may be unaware of the thoughts that the spirit may have in the death throes, or how much torment may be spared by the sudden flash of repentance.

The materialist, who sees the body only and does not consider the soul, cannot comprehend these things, but the Spiritist, who knows what happens beyond the grave, knows the value of one last thought. So mitigate final suffering as much as you can, but guard against shortening a life, even for only a minute, for that minute might save many tears in the future.

St. Louis (Paris, 1860)